Celebrate National Taco Day With Free Tacos -- Or, Better Yet, Ones You Pay For

Pollo Campero is celebrating National Taco Day by rolling out a new line of tortillas stuffed with Peruvian grilled chicken, crispy seasoned chicken, fresh cooked bacon, panela cheese and salsas. All three Dallas locations of the International chain will offer a free Campero Chicken taco to diners all day today in your choice of flour or corn tortillas.

While chains sometimes earn disdain from foodies, Lauren paid the Northwest Highway location a visit a few weeks ago and we were happy with her meal. They also earned a best of in 2009, and they won a shoot out we staged against Popeyes as well. If the Observer isn't a big enough endorsement, the chicken was good enough to be included in John T. Edge's book, Fried Chicken. In a chapter devoted to the chain started in Guatemala he describes the bird-bird as "juicy and crispy and undeniably good." How can that make for a bad taco?

You could drive to California and get yourself a new Doritos locos taco. Apparently their attempt at authenticity through a new line of street tacos went so badly they decided to stick to what they know best. Slashfood had this to say about the Cantina Taco:

Never has food looked so completely different in real life than in the advertised photograph. A pile of mush and odd flavors, this mixture of sweet pork and onions never came together

And you can check out a video of a dude eating the new Doritos Taco over here.

For most of Dallas, I think the best way to celebrate National Taco Day is by hitting up one of the hundreds of more authentic taquerias in the area that probably have no idea today is any sort of fake holiday. Places like El Si Hay and Tacos El Guero celebrate authentic tacos every day, not just when marketing overlords tell them to.

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Pollo Campero's fried and grilled chicken is some of the best in Dallas. Their sides, especially the Campero beans and fried plantains are better than they need to be. A Guatemalan chain, it's easily as good as many mom 'n pop Latino restaurants. The service is caring and genuine and the place is always spotlessly clean.

I know that I'm just a dumb, thin skinned sports moron who knows nothing about food, but I also saw that - I think - Taco Cabana is giving away fajita tacos, too. Now back to giving myself cup checks, because that's what people like me do.

I think El Padrino at the Bishop Arts and Fuzzy's are doing something as well. Well, at least from what I grasped from their twitter feeds. Taco feast awaits, well, as soon as I leave work, of course. Come on 5 o' clock.